Beni took me to the Finnish amusement park in Helsinki called Linnanmäki! It was such an incredibly fun day. I felt like I was in a rom com movie because he did a bunch of cheesy, sweet stuff, like he won me a stuffed dragon. We got cotton candy and popcorn and spent the entire day there.
The weirdest coincidence of the day was when we were standing in line for a ride and I noticed some graffiti. I was just reading some of it and then suddenly I saw "AFS." After closer inspection I see that the first name is "Sandra" and the date is from 2015-2016. No way... I took a picture. Sandra is the girl from the USA that stayed with my host family last year. I have spoken with her a few times. I sent her the picture and she immediately answered "OMG I CANT BELIEVE YOU SPOTTED THAT!!" Of all the crazy things to happen... I could not believe it. It still blows my mind.
Beni really wanted to go on a water ride, and he promised me that I absolutely wouldn't get wet. I have a history of getting soaked on every water ride that I go on, and I told Beni this when we were in line. Well, I was the only one in our boat that got totally drenched. The coat he was wearing was waterproof, but for me, the water soaked right through to my underwear. I was wet the entire rest of the day! It's a really fun memory.
In the USA, we have this ridiculous idea of blaming others for our own stupidity. This was something that I considered normal, never really thought about until I came abroad. We live in a court ruled society with warning labels, intense security, waivers, etc. I was astounded by the lack of security and regulations at Linnanmäki. For instance, at a park like Cedar Point, on a very fast ride you would be required to put all your things in a locked locker that you have to pay for. At Linnanmäki instead of that they either have little wooden cubbies or you just put your stuff on the floor to pick up when the ride is over. You just have to trust that people won't steal your things, and people actually do this. I can't imagine ever seeing anything like this in the United States.
